Zoya Aurora

Aurora is the third and last polish from The Ornate Collection (Zoya) that has holographic particles. Electra has holographic bar glitter but I'm talking about the small holo glitter that Blaze, Storm, and Aurora have. Aurora is, of course, one of my favorites from the collection. I am a sucker for anything that shines, sparkles, glows, etc. I love the way Zoya describes Aurora, so I'm going to quote them today.

 "Zoya Nail Polish in Aurora can be best described as a full coverage, medium sugarplum purple flecked with a high concentration of micro fine diamond holographic glitter. The rainbow holographic sparkle turns this plum purple into something truly captivating." 

Amen to that. I couldn't have described this beauty any better. 

When I saw the promos for the first time, I thought, "Eh, I don't need another black or gold and I have so many reds, purples, and greens. This collection has everything I already have." 

W R O N G 

That's what I was, wrong! I saw the swatches take over the interwebs and how packed with micro holographic goodness these polishes were and in an instant I was pre ordering the collection. As for the polishes that don't have the holo particles, they are also very special. I'm glad I have them to join my out of control lovely collection. 

Ok, you want to see Aurora already, enough jabbering! On it. 

In Shade

This is not the best representation of what Aurora looks like inside or in shade. The color is a little too blue toned in the picture. If you look at the color of the swatch below and put it with the glitter particles in the swatch above, that's what it looks like without direct sunlight. 

 Direct Sunlight
It's gorgeous inside but this is where Aurora shines. For a scattered holo, this is pretty darn amazing don't you think?

Let's talk formula. I have had excellent luck with Zoya. They always have amazing formulas and Aurora is no different. It goes on smoothy but needs a second coat just to fill the areas that are a little thin to smooth everything out. It dries quickly, by the time I was done with my 2nd coat on both hands, I was ready to use my top coat. Wear time was great. I wore this one for a few days which is strange for me. I just had minor tip wear and that's it!!

I still have Logan, Ziv, and Electra to show you.
I've had Elelctra on my nails for three days now (I think) and it's driving me crazy! It won't stop snowing. There is no way I can capture how crazy sparkly my nails are without taking the pictures outside. Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to get over it and take the pictures inside. I'll do my best to capture them!


Thank you for reading and for your wonderful support!
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-Mira

No More H8 Day

If you just want to see nail pictures, scroll to the end. =)

I've had my fair share of drama in my life and try my best to stay out of it now. I've stayed far away from the issue that inspired today's anti-bullying campaign in the nail community. After giving it some thought, I decided that I wanted to support anything that had to do with standing up against bullying. It's an issue that I'm very passionate about as a former elementary school teacher and as someone who was bullied herself. 

I don't like to dwell on the past so I won't go into details about my experience with bullying. I do know, from what I went through that the emotional scars left by hurtful words and actions never go away. They eventually fade but they are still there. Understanding that shaped who I was as a teacher and person. I can not stand bullying on any level. It's wrong, it's not ok, it needs to stop. 

As an adult, I still feel guarded when it comes to letting new people into my life. As a little girl, I let people walk all over me. My self-esteem was in the toilet and I thought I deserved to be treated the way I was. I know differently now. Unfortunately, I've swung to the other extreme and have become hyper sensitive about how I am treated. If I feel someone is mistreating me, the walls go up and it's almost impossible for that person to gain my trust. I'm working on a happy medium, but it's hard! 

When I first started this nail blog, I was really self conscious about my pictures. I'm still self conscious about them, but I'm starting to feel a little more confidant. I have shaky hands. Strangers have commented on them. Friends have commented on them. They've been shaky since High School and I don't know why. Having shaky hands makes it really hard for me to paint my nails nicely. To make it worse, I had a herniated disc in my neck that was squishing my spinal cord. The little bugger weakened my hands. As a result, I sometimes struggle with doing things with my fingers like buttoning buttons and you guessed it, painting my nails. When I first started painting my nails, it was really hard for me to control the brush. I was determined to get better. I decided if I practiced long enough, I'd develop muscle memory and improve. It's been a year, and it's not as hard to paint my nails anymore but I still struggle. 

Luckily, I've only had positive comments on my blog. I'd be really bummed if someone criticized me. I'm doing the best I can with what I've got. Like everyone else, I thrive on support and positive feedback. It pisses me off when I see people mistreat others. No one knows what it's like to be someone else. Let's just be kind to each other, ok? 

Here are two different purple manis. One is from when I first started this blog and the other is recent. I dedicate this post to anyone who has been bullied and to the fight to stop it. 

Thanks for reading, I know it was very long today. =)

-Mira